Destructive Chewing

Dear Cesar, I have a 1-year-old pitbull named Raven. I have followed your methods since day one, and she is well-behaved dog and an awesome ambassador for her breed. But, there’s one problem we are unable to overcome: food obsession. Raven is walked and or biked twice a day. She’s a low-medium energy dog. I can tucker her out very easily. As far as Discipline goes I use the “touch”, say no, and put the food back (if I can). When I leave the room, I command her to come as well. Raven gets into trouble when no one is

Young dogs learn to explore the world with their mouths since they don’t have hands that they can grab things with. Often, this inevitably leads to a puppy nipping or biting at anything that comes near its face, particularly parts of people, as well as to destroying anything around the house it can get its teeth on. While it can be cute when a tiny puppy tries to do it, it’s an important habit to break because nipping and destructive chewing are two the biggest reasons that adult dogs wind up abandoned in shelters once the cute factor wears off.

You come home and your floor is scattered with empty tin cans, shredded up boxes, and food packages that have been ripped to shreds. The trash can is toppled over. Your dog sits in the middle of the mess, her eyes wide and apologetic. As a loving dog owner, you may be tempted to let the occasional secret trash feast slide. But when your dog breaks into your trash while you’re away, she’s not only making a mess, she’s endangering her health. Every year, far too many dogs die from eating an item from the trash they weren’t supposed to.

Our dogs may be family, but that doesn’t mean they’re always the best roommates. And one of the most common complaints we humans have about our canine roomies is the chewing. Why do they always go straight for the newest pair of shoes? The important document you needed for today’s meeting? The arm of the sofa? There are many possible causes of destructive chewing. By identifying why your dog is engaging in the behavior, you’ll find it’s much easier to figure out how to stop it. Puppyhood Just like human toddlers like to put things in their mouths, puppies use

Cesar, How can I stop my dogs from chewing whatever bedding we put in their crate? Loretta Hamann East Northport, NY Loretta, There’s so much we don’t know from your question. These are the questions I’d ask you. How old are your dogs? Are they spayed or neutered? How much exercise are they getting? How long are they being kept in the crate? The best I can answer you without knowing the details is that typically when a dog is destructive, he is releasing energy and he’s bored. This may be obsessive behavior as well, but as a general suggestion

We have a 7-week-old Rottie/Dobie mix puppy. He was gotten from a rescue organization that was pretty shabby looking. He came to us with ticks, terrible diarrhea (which we are managing) and a terrible behavior: compulsive rock eating. He doesn’t randomly pick up rocks, he eats them as fast as he can scoop them into his mouth – he seems desperate to eat rocks. In his last stool, I counted 45 rocks (and those were the ones I could see). We try to keep him confined to our grassy area when he’s outside, but he still manages to find rocks.